"Clean Coal" , Mountain Top Removal Protest and Arrest, You Tube Video

Solar, Wind, Bio, Energy News And Commentary By_Green Earl, 30 year Pioneer In Conservation & Solar Energy




Statement by Judy Bonds, Goldman Environmental Prize winner and co-director of Coal River Mountain Watch of West Virginia on today’s action at Massey Energy’s Twilight, West Virginia Mine Site

“Every West Virginian should be outraged that these out-of-state coal companies and their agents are blasting our homes and poisoning our water and our air. These peaceful protesters are here to help stop the poisoning of our land and our people.They are heroes and we welcome them.”

Dramatic footage refutes Masseys claim that protesters battered miners.

Statement by Bo Webb, Community Activist and Volunteer with Coal River Mountain Watch

“The true patriots are the concerned citizens who went up on that mine site today. It is the people of Appalachia who are being assaulted by Massey Energy; our mountains our water, our air and our heritage has been assaulted, and the government is doing nothing to protect us from this aggression. We are fighting for our lives here and we appreciate those who are coming to our aid. There are no outsiders when it comes to fellow Americans coming to the defense of one another’s civil right and human rights.”

Statement by Judy Bonds, Goldman Environmental Prize winner and co-director of Coal River Mountain Watch of West Virginia on today’s action at Massey Energy’s Twilight, West Virginia Mine Site

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
BREAKING NEWS: Activists Risk Arrest to Stop Mountaintop Removal

Thursday June 18th, 2009 – 1:30 PM EST

14 Activists Arrested in Peaceful Protest to Stop Mountaintop Removal scaled 20-story tall machinery to call attention to nation’s worst form of coal mining in first ever ascent of a mountaintop removal site’s dragline.

COAL RIVER VALLEY, W. VA – At 5:00AM this morning 14 concerned citizens entered onto Massey Energy’s mountaintop removal mine site near Twilight WV. Four of them scaled a 150-foot dragline and unfurled a 15×150 foot banner that said, “Stop Mountaintop Removal Mining”. The climbers were on the enormous dragline, a massive piece of equipment that removes house-sized chunks of blasted rock and earth to expose coal, and remained there for over three hours. Meanwhile nine others deployed a 20×40 foot banner on the ground at the site which read, “Stop Mountaintop Removal: Clean Energy Now”.

Police arrested David Hollister, Melissa O’Neil, Chelsea Ritter Soronen, Lynn Stone, Charles Suggs, Rodney Webb, Jeanne Kirshon, John Johnson Greg Yost, Jessica Sue Eley, Lisa Ramsden, David Pike, Paul Brown, and Kurt Delano Mann. The group is expected to be arraigned early this afternoon at Boone County Jail in Madison, West VA.

This act of peaceful protest comes just days after the Obama Administration announced a plan to reform, but not abolish, the aggressive strip mining practice.

“I’ve written letters, attended hearings and called my congressman, so far they have done nothing to stop the disastrous and unnecessary practice of mountaintop removal,” said Charles Suggs, a 25-year old of Rock Creek, WV who was one of those climbing today. “It has come to the point when we must take direct action to abolish this practice that is immorally robbing Appalachian communities of their culture, their health and their future.”

This is the first time a dragline has been scaled on a mountaintop removal site, and marks the latest in a string of protests in West Virginia by residents and allies from across the country. Another protest is set for June 23rd in the Coal River Valley area with local coalfield residents, NASA climate scientist James Hansen, actress Daryl Hannah, and 94-year-old former US Representative Ken Hechler, and Rainforest Action Network Executive Director Michael Brune, among many others.

“It’s way past time for civil disobedience to stop mountaintop removal and move quickly toward clean, renewable energy sources,” said Judy Bonds, Goldman Environmental Prize winner and co-director of Coal River Mountain Watch of West Virginia. “For over a century, Appalachian communities have been crushed, flooded, and poisoned as a result of the country’s dangerous and outdated reliance on coal. How could the country care so little about our American mountains, our culture and our lives?”

An increasing number of concerned Appalachians and environmentalists are calling for the end to mountaintop removal, a practice that harms the people and places of Appalachia, destroys the economic potential of the Appalachian Mountains for long term clean energy opportunities and jobs, and furthers the burning of climate-killing coal.

Every day, mountaintop removal mines use more explosive power than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima. Mining companies are clear-cutting thousands of acres of some of the world’s most biologically diverse forests. They’re burying biologically crucial headwaters streams with blasting debris, releasing toxic levels of heavy metals into the remaining streams and groundwater and poisoning essential drinking water. According to the EPA, this destructive practice has damaged or destroyed nearly 2,000 miles of streams and threatens to destroy 1.4 million acres of forest by 2020.

Just days before this action, the Obama Administration announced steps to end the fast-tracking of certain mountaintop removal coal mine permits and to add tougher enforcement in Appalachia. However, it remains unclear what, if any, improvements this will have on-the-ground in Appalachia or elsewhere. Without a significant change in policy, mining companies will continue to destroy historic mountain ranges and bury community’s drinking water in toxic waste.


For more information, please visit www.mountainaction.org

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Political Action Alerts

Solar, Wind, Bio, Energy News And Commentary By_Green Earl, 30 year Pioneer In Conservation & Solar Energy

[YESWECANSOLVEIT] FW: Call Your Senator Today - Vote on LTC in Health Care Reform
Tuesday, June 23, 2009 8:07 PM

From: "Charles Vismeg"

To:"YESWECANSOLVEIT"

Please read this alert and forward it to others.
Take Action. Now!


Call Your Senator Today - Vote on LTC in Health Care Reform

Health Care Reform Moves Forward


Take Action!

First Key Committee Vote on LTC in Health Care Reform

Your Senator may be the key to getting more federal support for long-term services and supports! Please contact your Senator today!

Your U.S. Senator is a member of the powerful Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, which is marking up its health care reform bill, the Affordable Health Choices Act, this week.

The HELP Committee bill creates a new social insurance program (modeled on the "CLASS Act") which is financed by voluntary payroll deductions to provide eligible individuals with a cash benefit to pay for long-term services and supports. The bill also contains some provisions for providing older adults (as well as other Americans) with care coordination through community health teams.

Please contact your Senator's office (see contact information for the key staff person below) to urge him/her to preserve and support these long-term services and supports provisions which are in the HELP Committee bill. A committee vote on these provisions is expected this week, possibly as early as this afternoon or tomorrow (Wednesday).



Here is a sample script you can use:

Hello. I'm a constituent, and I'm calling to ask Senator X to support preservation of the long-term services and supports provisions in the mark-up of the Affordable Health Choices Act this week. Long-term services and supports are frail seniors' primary unmet care need, and the cost of care for many families is unaffordable. Please let Senator X know that I called to urge him/her to support and preserve the long-term services and supports provisions in the Affordable Health Choices Act. Thank you.

Please forward this email to friends, colleagues, and clients in your state who share your concerns.



SENATOR NAME


STATE


PHONE #


FAX #


KEY STAFF CONTACT FOR HEALTH

Sen. Lisa Murkowski - R


AK


(202) 224-6665


(202) 224-5301


Amanda Makki

Sen. John McCain - R


AZ


(202) 224-2235


(202) 228-2862


Talal Mir

Sen. Christopher Dodd - D


CT


(202) 224-2823


(202) 224-1083


Jeremy Sharp

Sen. Johnny Isakson -R


GA


(202) 224-3643


(202) 228-0724


Tyler Thompson

Sen. Tom Harkin - D


IA


(202) 224-3254


(202) 224-9369


Reginald Alston

Sen. Tom Harkin - D


IA


(202) 224-3254


(202)224-9369


Jennelle Krishnamoorthy

Sen. Pat Roberts - R


KS


(202) 224-4774


(202) 224-3514


Alison Anway

Sen. Edward Kennedy - D


MA


(202) 224-4543


(202) 224-2417


David Bowen

Sen. Barbara Mikulski - D


MD


(202) 224-4654


(202) 224-8858


Mona Shah

Sen. Kay Hagan - D


NC


(202) 224-6342


(202) 228-2563


Michelle Adams

Sen. Richard Burr - R


NC


(202) 224-3154


(202) 228-2981


Josh Martin

Sen. Judd Gregg - R


NH


(202) 224-3324


(202) 224-4952


Elizabeth Wroe

Sen. Jeff Bingaman - D


NM


(202) 224-5521


(202) 224-2852


Frederick Isasi

Sen. Sherrod Brown - D


OH


(202) 224-2315


(202) 228-6321


Jessica McNiece

Sen. Sherrod Brown - D


OH


(202) 224-2315


(202) 228-6321


David Mitchell

Sen. Tom Coburn - R


OK


(202) 224-5754


(202) 224-6008


Josh Trent

Sen. Jeff Merkley - D


OR


(202) 224-3753


(202) 228-3997


Susan Lexer

Sen. Robert Casey - D


PA


(202) 224-6324


(202) 228-0604


Morna Murray

Sen. Jack Reed - D


RI


(202) 224-4642


(202) 224-4680


Topher Spiro

Sen. Lamar Alexander - R


TN


(202) 224-4944


(202) 228-3398


Mary-Sumpter Johnson

Sen. Orrin Hatch - R


UT


(202) 224-5251


(202) 224-6331


Jay Khosla

Sen. Orrin Hatch - R


UT


(202) 224-5251


(202) 224-6331


Patricia Deloatche

Sen. Bernard Sanders - I


VT


(202) 224-5141


(202) 228-0776


David Reynolds

Sen. Patty Murray - D


WA


(202) 224-2621


(202) 224-0238


Paula Burg

Sen. Michael Enzi - R


WY


(202) 224-3424


(202) 228-0359


Chuck Clapton















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JonStewartandObamaEnthusiasts] Fwd: [ObamaRapidResponse] FW: NSN Daily Update: Iran Exposes Deep Conservative Split on Foreign Policy 6/23/09
Tuesday, June 23, 2009 2:09 PM

From:"Becky Bonnette"
Add sender to Contacts
To:"Jon Stewart and Obama Enthusiasts"


---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Martinson, Michael
Date: Tue, Jun 23, 2009 at 10:35 AM
Subject: [ObamaRapidResponse] FW: NSN Daily Update: Iran Exposes Deep Conservative Split on Foreign Policy 6/23/09
To: Obama Rapid Response


Useful points

NSN Daily Update: Iran Exposes Deep Conservative Split on Foreign Policy
6/23/09

A clear and striking split has emerged amongst conservatives in response to the situation in Iran. Moderates, realists and GOP foreign policy leaders have all come out in support of the Administration's approach and attacked neoconservative calls for meddling more in Iran. On the other hand, neoconservatives and the party's political leadership have taken to the op-ed pages and the airwaves to denounce Obama's approach and have called for more direct intervention in Iran. This rift exposes an old fault line among conservatives, made new by their lack of new policy ideas in response to a dynamic, popular incumbent. This divide is between a more moderate and realist approach modeled after Bush 41 and a more extreme and hard-line vision that adheres to the neoconservative view of foreign policy practiced by Bush 43. Yet the press has framed the debate as one pitting Obama against "Republicans" or Obama against "conservatives" - as if conservative opposition to Obama was monolithic. But in fact the debate is taking place between current and former policymakers of both parties and one extreme neoconservative faction. Unfortunately for the conservative movement and the country, this faction - whose policy ideas have been so discredited over the last eight years - includes the conservative leadership of the House Representatives and the former Republican candidate for President. But the unity among national security thinkers, progressives and realists is at least as important a storyline.

Recognizing that meddling in the elections of Iran would be dangerous, traditional conservatives side with the president, oppose neoconservatives:

* Joe Scarborough, Conservative talk show host and former congressman: "All we would do is undermine those people in the street, who the second that they are attached to the United States of America, the country after all that's been known in Iran as the great Satan since 1979, we will undermine their cause... It's so shortsighted I find it stunning...What would John McCain and Lindsey Graham specifically have the president say? All of those people that are emailing in and telling me that I'm being liberal? Oh really? I'm being liberal? No I think it's called restraint." [Joe Scarborough, 6/22/09]

* Henry Kissinger, Secretary of State for Richard Nixon: "I think the president has handled this well. Anything that the United States says that puts us totally behind one of the contenders, behind Mousavi, would be a handicap for that person. And I think it's the proper position to take that the people of Iran have to make that decision." [Henry Kissinger, 6/17/09]

* Sen. Richard Lugar (R-IN), Ranking Member, Senate Foreign Relations Committee: "When popular revolutions occur, they come really from the people. They're generated by people power within the country. For us to become heavily involved in the election at this point is to give the clergy an opportunity to have an enemy...and to use us, really, to retain their power." [Richard Lugar, 6/16/09]

* James Baker, Secretary of State for George H.W. Bush: "If we're out there, beating up on them, criticizing, they'll just say, 'This is the Great Satan.'" Baker added, "A president has to walk a very fine line here, particularly when the revolution was built on anti-American sentiment." [Dallas Morning News, 6/19/09]

* Brent Scowcroft, National Security Advisor for George H.W. Bush: Brent Scowcroft said in an interview that the Obama administration should continue a cautious approach and that criticism from opponents "is not carefully thought out." "I think the administration is about right in their reaction," he said. "We have to keep our eye on the ball. While it would be comforting to blast what is happening over there, you have to ask how it would help matters. A more belligerent tone would not be helpful."[WS Journal, 6/20/09]

* Nick Burns, Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs for George W. Bush: "President Ahmadinejad would like nothing better than to see aggressive statements, a series of statements, from the United States which try to put the US at the center of this." [Nick Burns, 6/16/09]

* Conservative Senators Mel Martinez (R - FL), Bob Corker (R - TN), John Thune (R - SD), and Lamar Alexander (R - TN): According to an article in the Politico last week, Senators Mel Martinez (R - FL,), Bob Corker (R - TN), John Thune (R - SD), and Lamar Alexander (R - TN) all support the President's approach for dealing with Iran. [Politico, 6/17/09]

* George Will, Conservative columnist for the Washington Post: "The president is being roundly criticized for insufficient, rhetorical support for what's going on over there. It seems to me foolish criticism. The people on the streets know full well what the American attitude toward the regime is. And they don't need that reinforced." [George Will, ABC News, 6/21/09]

* Pat Buchanan, Conservative Commentator: "When your adversary is making a fool of himself, get out of the way... U.S. fulminations will change nothing in Tehran. But they would enable the regime to divert attention to U.S. meddling in Iran's affairs and portray the candidate robbed in this election, Mir-Hossein Mousavi, as a poodle of the Americans." [Pat Buchanan, 6/16/09]

* Peggy Noonan, Wall Street Journal columnist and Reagan administration official: "To insist the American president, in the first days of the rebellion, insert the American government into the drama was shortsighted and mischievous. The ayatollahs were only too eager to demonize the demonstrators as mindless lackeys of the Great Satan Cowboy Uncle Sam, or whatever they call us this week. John McCain and others went quite crazy insisting President Obama declare whose side America was on, as if the world doesn't know whose side America is on." [Peggy Noonan, 6/19/20]

Neocons continue to advocate an ideologically driven policy that politicizes an international emergency. The debate taking place over America's response to the Iranian election crisis has not been between the President and Republicans, but rather between the president and a group of extreme partisan ideologues who seek to oppose President Obama at every step and advance a failed Bush-era foreign policy approach:

* Senator John McCain, former Republican presidential nominee: "I do not believe that the president is taking a leadership that is incumbent upon an American president, which we have throughout modern history, and that is to advocate for human rights and freedom," and argued on Face the Nation that, "the United States hasn't done anything." [USA Today, 6/16/09. John McCain, MSNBC, 6/22/09]

* Eric Cantor, House Minority Whip: "The Administration's silence in the face of Iran's brutal suppression of democratic rights represents a step backwards for homegrown democracy in the Middle East." [Eric Cantor, 6/15/09]

* Lindsey Graham, Republican Senator from South Carolina: "I appreciate what the president said yesterday, but he's been timid and passive more than I would like, and I hope he will continue to speak truth to power." [Lindsey Graham, ABC News, 6/21/09]

* Paul Wolfowitz, Former Deputy Secretary of Defense for Donald Rumsfeld: "The reform the Iranian demonstrators seek is something that we should be supporting. In such a situation, the United States does not have a 'no comment' option. Coming from America, silence is itself a comment -- a comment in support of those holding power and against those protesting the status quo... Now is not the time for the president to dig in to a neutral posture. It is time to change course." [Paul Wolfowitz, 6/19/09]

* Charles Krauthammer, neoconservative columnist for the Washington Post: "Our fundamental values demand that America stand with demonstrators opposing a regime that is the antithesis of all we believe." [Charles Krauthammer, 6/19/09]

* Danielle Pletka, Vice President of the neoconservative think tank, American Enterprise Institute: "Just after Iran's rigged elections last week, with hundreds of thousands of protesters taking to the streets, it looked as if a new revolution was in the offing. Five days later, the uprising is little more than a symbolic protest, crushed by the elite Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps. Meanwhile, the real revolution has gone unnoticed: the guard has effected a silent coup d'état." [Danielle Pletka and Ali Alfoneh, 6/16/09]

* Robert Kagan, neoconservative commentator: "But Obama's calculations are quite different. Whatever his personal sympathies may be, if he is intent on sticking to his original strategy, then he can have no interest in helping the opposition. His strategy toward Iran places him objectively on the side of the government's efforts to return to normalcy as quickly as possible, not in league with the opposition's efforts to prolong the crisis." [Robert Kagan, 6/17/09]

* Bill Kristol, neoconservative commentator: "He should support the demonstrators. He should say that stealing elections is unacceptable, killing demonstrators in the streets of Tehran is unacceptable. He could work with the Europeans to say, 'Let's bring in international observers to review whether this was a fair election. If it wasn't, let's think about having another election.'" [Bill Kristol via Fox News, 6/14/09]

Yet the media is reporting a completely different story that neglects conservative divisions and instead portrays the debate as one between Obama and a seemingly unified conservative opposition. So far, the mainstream media has depicted the debate over what to do on Iran as one existing between the Administration and conservatives. Today the Washington Post reported: "Iran's post-election tumult has exposed the sharply divergent ways in which the Obama administration and its Republican opponents view the nature of American power and the president's role in speaking to political dissent outside the borders of the United States. The debate over how far Obama should go in encouraging the protesters who returned to the streets of Tehran amid clouds of tear gas Monday has emboldened Republicans, who see an opportunity to criticize his foreign policy as too timid." The Post continued, saying that remarks by Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham demonstrate that "Republicans clearly see Obama's approach to foreign policy as a potential weakness." The Post's coverage followed an earlier piece in the New York Times, which characterized the Iran debate similarly, as a battle between the President and conservatives. "Mr. Obama is coming under increased pressure from Republicans and other conservatives who say he should take a more visible stance in support of the protesters," reported the Times. The Times continued, saying "Some criticism of the Obama administration's cautious posture may be politically opportunistic, coming from rivals who are eager to draw distinctions between Republicans and Democrats, to portray the administration as generally weak when it comes to international confrontation." Fox News also pitted the President against conservatives, describing how "Republican lawmakers," believed he "needs to step off the sidelines and stand up for Iranians who are protesting last week's election and challenging the authority of the country's theocratic regime." The Associated Press' coverage adopted this frame as well, describing how "Republicans intensified their criticism" of the President's handling of the Iran crisis. [Washington Post, 9/23/09. NY Times, 6/17/09. Fox News, 6/21/09. AP, 6/21/09]

What We're Reading

Iran's Guardian Council rejects plea from opposition to annul the results of the election. Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is to be sworn in by mid-August. Meanwhile, Iranian authorities have ordered the family of Neda Soltan - a student shot dead in Tehran - to take down mourning posters in efforts to stop her becoming the rallying point for protests against the presidential election.

A Pakistani tribal leader who opposed the head of the Taliban was shot dead yesterday.

Coalition troops launched a massive assault on a Taliban stronghold in southern Afghanistan and were able to push militants out of some areas they had controlled.

Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad called on Monday for the establishment of a Palestinian state within two years, a timeline he said is possible if Israel upholds its existing commitments and Palestinians concentrate on building government and civic institutions.

Defense officials from the United States and China are meeting in Beijing for two days of high-level talks.

The Obama administration is shutting down a controversial Bush administration domestic spy satellite program which had run out of DHS.

One hundred Romanians who left their homes in Belfast after recent racist attacks have decided to leave Northern Ireland and return to Romania.

The U.S. and Kyrgyzstan have agreed to let the U.S. military use a Kyrgyz airport to transport U.S. nonlethal military supplies to Afghanistan. Four months ago, the Kyrgyz government threatened to evict U.S. troops from the country.

The Pentagon will use a new strategy to anticipate future conflicts that includes a mix of conventional, set-piece battles and counter-insurgency efforts.

Deadly bombings killed at least 13 people in Baghdad Monday, complicating counter-insurgency efforts ahead of a planned withdrawal next week of U.S. troops from major Iraqi cities.

Somalia's transitional government requested military help from its neighbors to combat Islamist militants, but Kenya rejected the idea of sending troops and suggested the AU should spearhead such an effort.

A former Rwandan official was sentenced to 30 years in jail for his role in the death of "thousands of Tutsi refugees" in country's 1994 genocide.

Commentary of the Day

Christopher Hitchens discusses the rampant anti-Anglo-Saxon sentiment among Iran's leadership.

Richard Cohen commends President Obama's handling of the situation in Iran.

George Friedman at Stratfor analyzes the Iranian election and the history of revolution.

Andrew Lee Butters explores current tensions between Iran and its Middle East allies.

Bob Herbert criticizes President Obama's slow approach to bringing transparency and accountability to matters of national security.

The Time of London opines on how "Islamists in Pakistan fear cricket" and how the sport can be used as a weapon against the Taliban.

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[EducatorsforObama] Iran's Genie Unloosed / John Hay
Tuesday, June 23, 2009 5:19 AM
From:
"John Hay"
Add sender to Contacts
To:
"Educators for Obama"
Iran's Genie Unloosed
http://www.tellingthoughts.com/us-politics/irans-genie-unloosed

Excerpt: A powerful cause has established its roots and further attempts at oppression will only make it stronger. No amount of force and thuggery orchestrated by by Iran's repressive religious dictatorship can stem the growing concern within its ranks and the rising tide of shocked negative public opinion. The die for systemic change in the politics of Iran appears to be cast and paid for in the blood of innocent protesters.

Latest from John Hay @ Telling Thoughts
www.tellingthoughts.com



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Go to Previous message | Go to Next message | Bac[EnvironmentalistsforObama] Fwd: [WritersforObama] First things first - FIX OUR VOTE, THEN tackle health care, the wars, global warming, and everything else
Tuesday, June 23, 2009 5:37 AM
From:
"Jacqueline de Floris"
Add sender to Contacts
To:
"Environmentalists for Obama"
Forwarded from Writers for Obama. What are anyone's thoughts on this?

I would like to see election financing reform so that it looks a lot more like here in Europe, where NO ONE contributes to election campaigns because they don't have to pay for air time. Each candidate gets air time, and in equal parts to everyone else running.

President Obama comes here and talks about his jealousy for European campaign laws.

I agree that we need a protected vote and corporate and private deep pocket wealth out of our politicians' pockets... how can they vote with courage and integrity when their financial well-being and seat depend on these relationships?

Which brings me to wind power... I recently had a house guest whose husband is from Montana, where he and his father are trying to put together a wind farm deal on their property. It is quagmired in government red tape and competition between private interests. STOP. This is WRONG.

In Europe, aeolians (wind mills/turbines... call them as you like) are everywhere, and more and more over the last months. When I visited my sister-in-law in Brittany, couldn't drive 5 km without seeing a new batch of 6 to 9 aeolians. For some time now, there has been a group of 9 or 10 near Chartres on my way to my inlaws' house, and now, there is a new wind farm up on the ridge behind their house, some 9 strong, reaping the benefits of the winds across those fertile grain-growing agricultural plains. The EU Commission determines how many must be built, and the individual governments get them done. Of course, there must be some sort of deal made with the local landowners whereby they obtain the rights to build them on their farm land for the farmers' benefit. I don't know how that works, precisely, but when is the USA going to realize that private initiative gets so much less done in so much more time than when the government decides to take action?

We need to make a fuss.

Peace all.

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Lisa Pease
Date: Tue, Jun 23, 2009 at 6:03 AM
Subject: [WritersforObama] First things first - FIX OUR VOTE, THEN tackle health care, the wars, global warming, and everything else
To: Writers for Obama


Dear Fellow Obama Supporters,

I'm attaching my response to MoveOn's latest plea for money. I've sent similar responses to every group asking for my support in recent days.

I don't know why this is so hard for some people to understand. I hope those of you getting this will understand this better than most.

1. Until we fix our vote, nothing else matters. We can threaten activism against Congresspeople who oppose us on single payer health care, but if they know they are elected by money, not voters, why should we expect them to listen to us?
2. Holt's bill is the only train coming. Some activists are mistakenly saying wait, there are other bills. THERE ARE NO OTHER BILLS COMING. Rush Holt's office is the only one that has done the legwork to get paper ballots and mandatory audits, and a DRE ban. That DRE ban will be the first thing to go if citizens don't voice LOUD SUPPORT for this bill. That's what happened the last time, and will undoubtedly happen again, unless people get on board. I'm forwarding you the response I'm sending to every group asking me for money or signatures. FIRST THINGS FIRST. Until we fix our vote, any other effort is just spinning our wheels. I refuse to throw good money at useless efforts.
3. Harry Hursti, along with many other election protection groups, is vigorously supporting Holt's bill. (See endorsing organizations here: http://holt.house.gov/voting.shtml.)

Someone from Southern California tried to persuade Hursti to oppose Holt's bill. He refused. HE GETS IT. He knows what's at stake, having hacked election machines himself. He realizes that paper ballots and audits are the necessary first step to reclaiming our vote. Our vote IS ON LOAN and can be revoked at any time until we get ALL our nation's votes cast on paper, and audited by hand.
4. Let's not forget the lessons of the 1960s. The alternative press, the labor and peace movements, and even the ACLU were all compromised from within by those forces who wanted to ensure the maintenance of corporate power over the activists. The FBI used COINTELPRO - counterintelligence programs - to bring groups down by fomenting dissent from within. People don't understand that the election protection movement is itself vulnerable to this. It's no coincidence that those who oppose the Holt bill in the name of "hand-counted paper ballots" are torpedoing, by their actions, their own best hope of actually GETTING paper ballots to hand count. I submit that at least some of the loudest voices in opposition are on the payroll of the electronic voting machine vendors. And, as with COINTELPRO, it will likely take years until we get the records to prove such. We can't afford to wait that long. We need this bill now, while we still control the House and Senate.
5. A lot of people have become complacent, believing the Republican party to be officially dead. Not so fast. The people with the mindset that powered the Republican party for years have simply moved into controlling the big name Democrats. So long as votes can be bought, directly (through voting vendors) and indirectly (through advertising) the neocon viewpoint will not be without advocates. Any doubts? Just look at how the "public option" and "single payer" can't even get a seat at the table. Congresspeople have already said, in essence, our votes don't count, and that only the big money votes count.

Without Holt's bill, they will continue to be right.

Don't let the voting vendors win. SUPPORT Holt's bill actively. Call your congressperson this week. Keep calling until you get the answer you need. Writer letters to local papers calling your representative's lack of support into question if they refuse to respond (that's my next task, personally). And let other groups know, as I and others have, that THIS is your priority.

If our vote is really gone, do you think anyone cares what we think about health care, the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, global warming, or ANY other issue? Get real, and get busy. This really is our last chance.

Thank you, as always, for your activism.

-----Original Message-----
From: Lisa Pease [mailto:lpease@gte.net]
Sent: Monday, June 22, 2009 8:32 PM
To: 'Patrick Schmitt, MoveOn.org Political Action'
Subject: RE: Defeat their ploys

I won't help MoveOn until they help protect our vote.

When you start actively supporting Rush Holt's bill, I'll contribute money again. Until then, my wallet will remain tightly closed. There's no point in trying to fix any other issue until we first fix our vote!!!!

Here are the groups I will give money to, because they get this:

http://holt.house.gov/voting.shtml (scroll to the supporting organizations).

Please note that voting security expert Harry Hursti, who knows better than anyone how vulnerable machines are, is supporting Holt's bill.

Without an honest vote, we have no voice, and people on the hill know this. They think that they can only win elections by winning the support of big business. Until we reclaim our vote, we can't really prove them wrong.

I love what you stand for. But I refuse to throw good money down the drain. Until we get true election reform, I'm not giving a cent to any other cause. And once we have that, my next priority is campaign finance reform. Only when those two issues are solved can we have any hope of winning on any other program. Numbers don't matter if they don't translate into votes, and our Congresspeople understand this in a way most activists do not.

Help me help you. Get behind Rush Holt's bill now, before it really is too late.

-----Original Message-----
From: Patrick Schmitt, MoveOn.org Political Action [mailto:moveon-help@list.moveon.org]
Sent: Monday, June 22, 2009 9:51 AM
To: Lisa
Subject: Defeat their ploys

Click here today and we'll send a flier to Sens. Boxer and Feinstein on your behalf, asking them to support a strong public health insurance option.

Click here

Dear MoveOn member,

Health care reform is in trouble in the Senate.

Conservatives in Congress, including some Democrats, are trying to kill Obama's public health insurance option not by opposing it outright, but by pushing weak half-measures and calling them "public plans."1 The latest is a proposal for small, regional "co-ops" that would have no chance of competing against insurance companies to bring costs down.2

If we act immediately, we have a good shot at defeating ploys like the "co-op." The key is to make it clear that we support a strong public health insurance option and lay out exactly what that means.

Click below and we'll fax a flier in your name (for free!) to Sens. Boxer and Feinstein that sets the bar for a strong public health insurance option. Faxes come directly into the office, so staffers are guaranteed to see them. And if enough of us send faxes, staffers will pass the flier on to their senator.

http://pol.moveon.org/fax?tg=FSCA_2.FSCA_1&cp_id=967&id=16425-337966-WLNQXUx&t=3

It's up to us to remind our senators that an overwhelming majority of Americans--83%--supports a public health insurance option,3 and that weak half-measures like the "co-op" plan are no substitute for real reform.

The flier says: "A strong public health insurance option must be part of health care reform this year," and outlines key criteria that a plan must be based upon:

· Available to all of us: A strong public health insurance option should be available to anyone who chooses to participate. If you like your current plan, you can keep it; if you want to participate in the public health insurance plan, you can choose that.

· A national plan with real bargaining clout: In order to truly control costs and compete with private health insurance plans, a strong public health insurance option must be available nationwide.

· Ready on day one: Every day we wait on real reform, health care costs continue to rise. A strong public health insurance option with a broad network of providers right out of the gate is key to building a competitive program that will help control costs.

· A truly public plan: To ensure it's held to the highest standards of accountability, a public health insurance option must be truly publicly run--accountable and transparent to Congress and to voters.

If thousands of us send faxes to Senate offices this week, we can make sure that message is heard loud and clear. Can you fax Sens. Boxer and Feinstein today? Click below and we'll send one for you:

http://pol.moveon.org/fax?tg=FSCA_2.FSCA_1&cp_id=967&id=16425-337966-WLNQXUx&t=4

Thanks for all that you do.

-Patrick S., Kat, Justin, Wes, and the rest of the team

Sources:

1. "A Public Health Plan," The New York Times, June 21, 2009.
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51519&id=16425-337966-WLNQXUx&t=5

2. "A co-op for the public option? Let's talk principles," The Now! Blog, June 12, 2009.
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51498&id=16425-337966-WLNQXUx&t=6

3. "New Poll Shows Tremendous Support for Public Health Care Option," Blog for Our Future, June 15, 2009
http://www.moveon.org/r?r=51510&id=16425-337966-WLNQXUx&t=7

Want to support our work? We're entirely funded by our 5 million members--no corporate contributions, no big checks from CEOs. And our tiny staff ensures that small contributions go a long way. Chip in here.

PAID FOR BY MOVEON.ORG POLITICAL ACTION, http://pol.moveon.org/. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee. This email was sent to Lisa on June 22, 2009. To change your email address or update your contact info, click here. To remove yourself from this list, click here.



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--
"But that spirit can't just be restricted to moments of great catastrophe. Because as I stand here today and look out at the thousands of folks who have gathered here today, I know that there's some folks that are going through their own quiet storms."
-- Senator Barack Obama, on the campaign trail in Milwaukee, September 1, 2008

http://thesisyphusjournals.com
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Renewable Energy News, Green Jobs, Green Careers, Goggle Searches Daily _Green Earl

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Unveiling the blinking phone dress (Reuters) Top
Reuters - Former Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova presented a prototype dress to reporters that is designed to light up when the wearer's mobile telephone rings.

Teen: Woman tried to pry off fake nails in dispute (AP) Top
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French village on alert after crocodile sightings (Reuters) Top
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AP - A wild turkey landed inside the cab of a manure-hauling tractor trailer, startling the driver and sending the truck rolling into a ditch off a northern New York road. State police said Scott Fisher, 38, was traveling in St. Lawrence County near the Canadian border when the turkey flew in through an open window.

Deputy arrested for allegedly vomiting at concert (AP) Top
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Boy, 8, saves sister and drunk adults from fire (AP) Top
AP - Police in Poland say an 8-year-old boy saved his sister and three drunk adults from a fire by calling police and fighting the flames before help arrived. The fire started outside the door of the boy's apartment in the western town of Miedzyrzecz late Monday.

Police search for naked french fry thief (Reuters) Top
Reuters - Canadian police were on the search on Monday for a brazen thief who snatched a take-away meal while making a naked run past a fast food restaurant's drive-though window.

Teen friends playing 'car tag' arrested in Arizona (AP) Top
AP - Two teenage friends playing a game of "car tag" were arrested after a sheriff's deputy spotted them driving erratically. Yavapai County sheriff's spokesman Dwight D'Evelyn said the deputy saw a Chevrolet truck driving just one foot behind a Ford truck, cross over the double yellow line and drive up next to the other truck at about 50 mph.

Customs uncovers 250 smuggled tortoises (Reuters) Top
Reuters - Ukrainian customs said on Monday its officers had seized 250 tortoises that a passenger had tried to smuggle across the former Soviet republic's eastern border aboard a sleeper train.

Text inadvertently sent to NJ cop leads to arrests (AP) Top
AP - A man who allegedly wanted to buy some marijuana was arrested after he mistakenly sent a text message to a southern New Jersey police officer. Salem Police Cpl. Christopher Pew was off-duty when he received the message on his personal cell phone this week.

Gimme a beer, imbecile! (Reuters) Top
Reuters - A Spanish bar is encouraging clients to insult its staff and offering free drinks for original or hilarious abuse.

Cat dropped in mailbox adopted — by postal worker (AP) Top
AP - A New Hampshire postal worker is getting his own special delivery.

Dog food is juuuust right for Colorado bear (AP) Top
AP - A western Colorado woman said a "very graceful, very calm" bear crawled into her house through a pet door, ate a bowl of dog food, uprooted some herbs in pots and then left after about 10 minutes. Brenda Freeman said the encounter occurred Saturday at her and her husband's home.


Thanks For The Visit_Green Earl